eternal flame
Americannoun
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a contained fire ignited ceremonially and kept burning, usually in a public place and as a perpetual memorial or symbol.
On our trip to the United States we visited the grave of President John F. Kennedy, where there is an eternal flame.
The Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima features an eternal flame symbolizing the hope for a world free of nuclear weapons.
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a fire ignited naturally or accidentally, sometimes burning underground, and fueled by deposits of coal or natural gas that keep it from going out.
At the Burning Mountain in Australia, an eternal flame has been slowly burning underground for 6,000 years.
Etymology
Origin of eternal flame
First recorded in 1590–1600
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the bottom of some steps burns an eternal flame surrounded by the names of Nazi concentration and extermination camps.
From BBC • Jan. 27, 2025
In a circular room, pilgrims meditate before the eternal flame.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2023
And, in the center with an eternal flame, would be a simple stone marker as spare and unsentimental as Ivana’s:
From Washington Post • Aug. 1, 2022
Mr. Biden watched the laying of a wreath and rekindled the eternal flame in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem.
From Washington Times • Jul. 13, 2022
It reminded me of the eternal flame they’d put on John F. Kennedy’s grave that will never go out no matter what.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
